Stan Nadel, a historian now working at the U. of Portland's program in Salzburg, Austria, found out at a conference that his name had become a byword for the dead-end visiting-professor track.

By Sydni Dunn

Stan Nadel sat with fellow historians around a lunch table as
they introduced themselves one by one. His peers were greeted with
warm nods and smiles, but when he stated his name, Mr. Nadel was
met with surprise. The man across from him clapped his hand over
his mouth.

"What the hell?" Mr. Nadel says he thought, recalling that
moment. It was 1997, and he was attending a history conference in
Oklahoma.

The lunch mate had graduated from a Ph.D. program at the
University of